Highly Overrated.

Rating: 5/10 (24 February 2009)

It began with a very interesting premise of a young man waking-up all by himself in a chaotic hospital. I dunno how long he'd been out, or how he alone got overlooked, and why he hadn't died of dehydration, the disease, or whatever, but it left a number of big question-marks to juggle with. This intro was pioneered by John Wyndam in his 'Day Of The Triffids', so it was nothing new.
The scenes of a deserted capital were extremely dramatic and well done - better even than the 'Triffids' movie. But this dimwit aimlessly wandering about in his hospital pyjamas with a vacant stare, left me wondering who were the real zombies. Getting your kit on before going outdoors would surely have been foremost in his mind. Then again; he was a cycle courier so perhaps we shouldn't expect too much. Even so; his total lack of interaction quickly became a bore. And it was highly unlikely that he could have walked right across central London in his condition. He'd have been pooped within a few hundred yards.
And I'm afraid it quickly went downhill after that. Movies about extremely ordinary people may be realistic but they can also be very, very dull. This item slouched about on the edge of a soap-opera canyon.
From time to time things livened-up when the 'zombie-flesh-eater' type things kept pouncing, but really - how many living dead movies do we actually need? It's old hat, for Gawd's sake.
And that was about it. The story dwindled away as each unprepossessing goody died-off. Even after I thought it had ended; the movie, like the dead, coughed back into life again. When, in truth, the last rites had been said within 30 minutes of the intro.
Britain just doesn't do this kind of stuff very well any more. Even with the considerable budget that this work must have enjoyed, you can find far superior efforts funded by comparatively tiny budgets from years gone by. Just think of the 'Quatermass' movies of the 1950's or how about 'Village Of The Damned'? This came over too much like 'Flood': a well packaged empty container.
The first half-hour is well worth a look, but don't get too comfortable.